Numerous techniques are employed for the administration of “medical liquids” (e.g. liquid medications and flush solutions) to a patient. In particular, where repeated medication infusions are required, medical liquids are often administered via the use of a vascular access catheter that is fluidly interconnected or interconnectable to one or more medical liquid sources. Typically, the catheter is inserted into the vein of a patient and left there for multiple intravenous (IV) infusions during an extended course of medication therapy. By way of example, the time period between IV drug infusions may be between about 4 to 24 hours.
In conjunction with extended therapy applications, a desirable practice is to disconnect a vascular catheter from a medical liquid source(s) between infusions. In this regard, most patients receiving IV medication therapy are ambulatory to some degree and benefit from not being continuously connected to a medical liquid source(s). To facilitate the ready and repeated connection/disconnection of a vascular catheter and medical liquid source(s), while avoiding the use of needle-type arrangements (e.g. arrangements where sharp/blunt needle ends are inserted into specialized vascular catheter connection ports having a pierceable/slit stopper), complimentary female and male fluid connectors are often utilized. For purposes hereof, a “male connector” generally refers to any fluid connector having a member that projects into a “female connector” upon interconnection therewith, wherein fluid transfer between the male and female connector may be realized.
In this regard, for example, a female connector may be fluidly interconnected as an access port to the vascular catheter and a complimentary male connector may be fluidly interconnected or readily interconnectable to a medical liquid source(s). In order to maintain sterility, various female connector designs have been employed that allow the female connector interconnection sites to be contacted with an antibacterial material (e.g. an alcohol solution) before each interconnection with a male connector. By way of example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,113,068, 6,706,022 and 5,782,816 are directed to female connectors having swabable interconnection sites.
To date, however, a largely unaddressed circumstance of infectious material introduction to the bloodstream of a patient is when a male connector is used for multiple interconnections. Known male connectors employed for repeated interconnections (e.g. to a female connector/vascular catheter arrangement) typically include a cylindrical port that is surrounded by an axially-fixed collar having internal threading that provides a means of securely connecting the male connector to a female connector that has external threading. Of note, such male connectors generally have inaccessible space between the axially-fixed collar and port. In turn, upon repeated usage of such male connectors, there are multiple opportunities for blood, nutritional fluids, and other fluids which include infectious materials to dwell in this space, and removal of such material and proper cleaning with antiseptic solutions is difficult to be effective.